Despite there being more than 100 arrests since the law was introduced a decade ago, only 18 people have been convicted in court
A law designed to stamp out the purchase of sexual services in Northern Ireland appears to be faltering in practice, with official figures revealing prosecutions and convictions remain vanishingly rare a decade after its introduction.
The legislation, which was developed by former MLA Lord Morrow, came into effect in 2015, was meant to curb sexual exploitation and human trafficking by criminalising those who pay for sex. Yet data from the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service, which has been obtained by Belfast Live, shows enforcement has been minimal, raising fresh doubts about whether it is working as intended.
In an interview for Belfast Live’s Inside NI’s Secret Slave Trade investigation, DCI Gail McCormick from the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch noted that the legislation “was largely based on the Nordic model, and the profile of sex work in Northern Ireland is very much residential-based rather than on street, and that can bring some evidential challenges.” She further explained the legal framework, stating, “Because obviously with this legislation, it is not illegal to sell sex, it is illegal to buy sex, and the victim in this case is the sex worker.”
READ MORE: Inside Northern Ireland’s Secret Slave Trade: The Hidden Scale of TraffickingREAD MORE: Inside Northern Ireland’s Secret Slave Trade: Why traffickers are walking free
The numbers tell the story
Between 2015 and March 2025, the PSNI recorded 115 arrests for the offence of paying for sexual services. Between 2015 and the end of 2024, the PSNI referred 131 cases to the PPS. In 55 of those cases, the decision was taken not to prosecute.
Even after those cases were passed to the PPS, they rarely progressed further. The first case reached the Magistrates’ Court in 2018, and the first case before the Crown Court was in 2021.
Outcomes in court were scarcer still. Of 14 cases referred to the Magistrates Court, 8 were convicted of at least one offence, 1 was acquitted, and 5 received another outcome. Of the 11 cases referred to the Crown Court, 10 were convicted and one was acquitted.
These cases included offences, including attempting to pay for the sexual services of a person and paying for the sexual services of a person. The PPS have said that they are unable to provide a breakdown of prosecutions for each calendar year as these numbers are too low and would risk disclosure of personal information.
A law without teeth?
Campaigners who backed the legislation argued it would reduce demand and protect vulnerable people from exploitation. But the figures show that the law is struggling to deliver on those promises.
With the likelihood of arrest so slim, and the chances of conviction slimmer still, the deterrent effect of the offence is in doubt. DCI McCormick highlighted the challenges in getting cases to court, stating: “Rightly, we are held to high evidential standards for court cases. The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. So you have to be able to evidence that sex was actually paid for and took place.”
Catherine Kierans, Head of the PPS Serious Crime Unit, said: “We take cases involving human trafficking and paying for sexual services extremely seriously and recognise the impact they can have on victims.
“Human trafficking is a particularly complex offence, and victims may be exploited in different ways, including for forced labour and sexual abuse. They may be hesitant to seek help due to fear of, and control by, their traffickers.
“The PPS works closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Organised Crime Task Force, other criminal justice agencies, including the Department of Justice and victim representative groups to improve our collective approach to these cases, including the experience of victims and witnesses.”
Catherine Kierans added that to bring a criminal prosecution, there must be sufficient available evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction in court, and it must be in the public interest to prosecute.
“Our role is to bring cases that meet the legal Test for Prosecution before the court and select the appropriate charges. While not every case meets the Test for Prosecution for the specific offence of human trafficking, prosecutors may proceed with other relevant charges, such as controlling prostitution or offences under proceeds of crime legislation,” she continued.
“These alternative prosecutions still play a vital role in disrupting trafficking networks and associated criminal activity. We prosecute all cases that meet the Test at their height. When a case reaches court, it is for the court to determine innocence or guilt. These cases present challenges for police and prosecutors.
Victims, who are often highly vulnerable for a range of reasons, can be reluctant to report offences to police. They may experience challenges, including trauma and language barriers. They may be frightened of giving evidence in court. Our specialist prosecutors are trained in the complexities of these cases, including in the impact of trauma on victims.
“Where there is sufficient evidence to bring a prosecution, where appropriate, we will apply to the court for special measures, such as allowing vulnerable or intimidated witnesses to give evidence remotely away from the courtroom. We also signpost victims to appropriate specialist support services.
“I want to appeal to people who think they may be victims of these offences to please take the first step and contact police. You will be treated sensitively and with respect at all times. If you have concerns about another person, please also report this to the police. All these cases are handled carefully, objectively and sensitively by dedicated teams of police and prosecutors.”
Where does responsibility lie?
The lack of prosecutions has also raised questions about priorities within the justice system. Is the offence simply not being enforced because of stretched resources, or does the problem lie in how evidence is gathered and tested in court?
DCI McCormick addressed the resource issue, stating: “We are at our lowest number of officers and staff than we have been in our entire existence and while we don’t have our recovery plan in place and we don’t have our number of officers that would have previously held, then we have to prioritise the highest risk, highest harm offences that we are going to be dealing with.”
She further explained the focus of the Organised Crime Branch: “And for us in organised crime branch, that is always going to be looking at organised crime groups who are trading in people as commodities, who are using those people for sexual offenses or for labour exploitation or drug issues, and that’s where we will put our focus on because that’s the highest harm.”
DCI McCormick also highlighted the role of Sex Liaison Officers (SLOs) in building trust with sex workers.
“Within the PSNI and my colleagues in Public Protection Branch, and actually within Organised Crime Branch, we have sex liaison officers, and their purpose is to build relationships with sex workers to, I suppose, increase the trust in the PSNI so whenever there are offenses, they will report them and allow investigations to take place.
“But also what we found through those strong relationships is they’ve actually highlighted concerns about other people who are potentially victims of modern slavery, human trafficking.”
She also emphasised that success is not solely measured by arrests or convictions: “So we will use a number of measures, and it isn’t down to arrest figures, or convictions, because sometimes the best thing is that we have supported a member who is a victim or a survivor of modern slavery and human trafficking into rebuilding their life, and putting this behind them, and being happy and content.”
What next?
DCI McCormick stressed the importance of victim feedback, stating: “But I think actually the most important factor of how we measure success is our feedback from our victims. That when they are through the other side of it, and they are able to feed back into the officer who has spent an awful lot of time with them going through this process, and they are telling my officers how it has changed their life and what impact it’s had on them.”
She also acknowledged the challenges in victim reporting: “academically, we know that people who are victims of sexual exploitation are really unlikely to make a report themselves to police, and quite often we will only uncover it throughout our other investigations.”
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our politics newsletter here.
#NIs #Secret #Slave #Trade #NIs #sex #buying #law #failing
